DUSHANBE, July 2, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Two border guards have been detained on suspicion of having been involved in drug trafficking.

According to the Ministry of Interior (MoI), two servicemen from border unit 2610 deployed in Khatlon’s Panj district, Hokim Mirzoyev and Mansourkhoja Shukurov, were detained in Panj on June 30.  A package containing 340 grams of hashish was confiscated from them.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against them and an investigation is under way

Over the first five months of this year, Tajik law enforcement authorities have solved 300 drug-related crimes, which is 6 percent more than in the same period of last year.  1,249 kilograms of narcotics, including 170 kilograms of heroin, 192 kilograms of raw opium and 887 kilograms of cannabis narcotics, have been seized in the country over the report period.